A Report on KnowledgeJean Francois Lyotard’s famous andinfluential work explains that at the end of the twentieth century there are only two main systems ofknowledge production, science and ‘commonsenesical’ and that the validity of the knowledge isestablished through preformativity rather than through hierarchical validation. Art, in the broaddefinition of present society, is include in the ‘commonsenesical’ system and therefore producesknowledge. Thus it can be conclude, by Althusser’s own logic, that art, entertainment, andspecifically, film are all ideology.

Ideology in postmodern societies

Above I have mentioned Lyotard and the postmodern condition. Lyotard captures the nature ofpostmodernism best in the highlighting of Wittgenstein’s language games. The loss of any realreferent is mirrored in the loss of any real direction to direct ones actions. This also underlines theplayfulness of both postmodernism and Wittgenstein’s concept. The playfulness is a reaction toremoval of authorities. The removal of authorities is perhaps the strongest historical aspect ofpostmodernism and remains one of the defining features of the development of the latter half of the20th

century in western societies. In Europe the development is encapsulated inthe development inthe education sector, but in America it more or less defines the nation during the period, iconized inthe assassination of JFK which came to symbolize the killing of hope by the regressive forces. Theanti-authoritative surge resulted in that most of the old traditional institutions where drained of theirpower and value. This is the more concrete historical side of the death of the metanarratives. Thisvalue revolution happened only on the signifier level, if you will, the institutionskept their form,but where drained of value. The institution of marriage serves well as an example of this. Themarriage ritual has not disappeared or been reduced significantly, but it is no longer a scaredinstitution of a religious or social order, as the divorce rates clearly show. This development isinteresting from an ideological point of view. The traditional institutions are largely synonymouswith the ideological state apparatuses and the fact that the apparatuses have kept the form after theideology has moved has some interesting implications. The empty apparatuses have blurred the realseats of ideological power. While the institutions and rituals have lost their ideological power theyhave not lost all power and thus still function in an active

manner. This means that these institutionsstill have a nostalgic power, perhaps most evident in religious rituals, that seems to mask the fact31

that actual ideological power is being implemented in society. Furthermore the anti-authoritativeparadigm hashindered the ideological implementation by authoritative means. A large part of theideological state apparatus had an authoritative approach as their modus operandi, and thereforetheir specific approaches are subject to an adverse reaction and even ridicule. This has necessitateda different modus operandi for ideological apparatus that is more overt and this has clearly resultedin that the influence of media has become, arguably, the strongest ideological apparatus of thepostmodern era. In general thepostmodern era is not one where the individual is supposed to becontrolled, individualization is one of the strongest values of the western world in the postmodernera and this clearly favours ideological apparatuses that are based on seduction, rather thanauthority.

The role of film

As mentioned above Althusser’s though and theory was applied to film studies and I will now lookat the role of film in society, and consequently on the personal level. There is a certainchronological disturbance as the theoretical work I will use is based in the seventies and takes thestate of media in society as their base. Therefore I seek to update the fundamental thought and reachnew conclusions. For the most part the development over the past four to five decades does notdisrupt the making of new conclusions. In general there is only more of the same; the developmentin media have had an upward trajectory and therefore we see that what was identified as importantstructural and semiotic influences in the sixties and seventies now function as dominating featuresof our world.

Film was quickly identified as an ideological state apparatus and thus all of the effects of the‘hailing’ where seen in the content of a film. The misrecognition, that created a subject that wasdiscursive construction rather than a Cartesian real subject in world of objects, was easily shown onthe cinema screen. The screen was the mirror that created the subjects of the audience. As thetheory and academic thoughts found a scene of real analytical work the consequences andimplications began to unfold and the strength and importance of this approach also had a surge for adecade or so, but then faded away. The explanation for this might be that the domination ofcapitalist, liberal, and rational thought throughout the western world pushed the theoretical work toa side, not only because of the political aspects of Marxism, but fundamentally because thecapitalist and free market sides of western democracies rely on the ideology of the rational subject,and thus resist the constructed ‘real’ subject. Althusser has been sidelined by the ruling ideology.32

Althusser’s problems with mental health and the murder of his wife have also, indirectly,discredited his work and laid his work barefor criticism. One final point is that for the lay-audiencemember whether they constitute a rational real subject or a constructed ‘real’ subject does notmatter. For them it is the emotional and social gratification of the movie-going experience that isparamount.

Whatever the reason for the sidelining of Althusser’s work and the consequences of its conclusionsthe powerful argument remains that, today, the screen(s) are the biggest ideological apparatus. Theomission of ‘state’ in ideological apparatus is intentional as it alludes to the political side ofAlthusser’s work and belongs to a different paradigm than the one of this thesis. Furthermore theideological struggle of domination and subjugation is not what is of interest her; it is the causes andeffects of films in the context of Global Hollywood. When speaking of ideology it is necessary toinclude, at least initially, the entire media sector as this is the dimension in which the structuralargumentation starts. But as we seek to find some concrete answers we must narrow the field ofinvestigation. Firstly we concentrate on film as it holds a special position as the most emotionallyengaging medium.24

The full extent of this argument will be unfolded in the next chapter. Thesecond narrowing that is

needed is to move from a structural subject to an individual subject. Thereason for this is that the structure consists of individuals and any empirical investigation musttherefore start by focusing on the individual. I shall call this individual the ideological subject.

The ideological subject

The creation of individuals on a mental level is essentially what Althusser’s theory on ideologydeals with. The individual is formed by the transportation of mental models that dictate what ispossible. As explained above it is this process that enables the subjectification of the individual,thus forming the construct of a subject. The subject is constructed through a wide array of differentsources that implement a locked mode of action. Mostly through what is permitted and notpermitted, but as the level sophistication rises what is desirable and not desirable becomes the areaof focus, and the motivation to follow the prescribed modes goes from ‘should’ to ‘want’. Thus theindividual becomes a miniature ideological apparatus capable of spreading the mental modes ofideology both internally and externally. The process of seeing a movie is therefore the process ofinternalizing a series of ideological mental modes. It is important to understand that this does not

24

Computer games also contend for this title, but their fractured and weakenednarrative side leaves them in a lesserposition

33

involve active choice but instead involvesmediated standardized structures that subjects must act inaccordance to in order to achieve subjectivity. The level of sophistication of the media sectors ofwestern societies mean that they focus solely on what is desirable and undesirable and thus avoid

the inherent conflict with authority that is a fundamental part of postmodern culture. Most presentideological apparatuses remain direct in their form even though their power has been greatlydiminished in the postmodern era. The family remains an institution of discipline and consequence,or at least this remains the ideal. Education systems also retain their system of reprimand andconsequents if subjects do not adhere to the rules. So the subjects, that operate under the thoughtthat they have agency activate their critical models of action and might gravitate away from theideological apparatuses and their direct influences. This means that of the three major ideologicalapparatuses of today, family, education and media, only media sidesteps the direct

friction with therecipient. The subjects engage in media on their own accord and most often also with an intent ofemotional and social gratification. If we also include the facts that media is an integrated part offamily life and also a part of the work in an educational context we see that the media has adominant position among the ideological apparatuses. Thus, when we wish to examine how theideological subject is constructed focusing on media means focusing on of the most influentialideological apparatuses. In the following chapter we will examine the effect that films have on theindividual

Cognition and Emotion–

Film from apersonal perspective

In this section I will work with Torben Grodal’s understanding of film as a medium. Grodal

focuseson the actual effects that films have on the brain. The core argument is that we watch andexperience film with our bodies and senses and that our brains have not evolved to distinguishbetween real and abstract sensory information. Thus the coreargument becomes that film engagesand affects the brain, and therefore us, through the same mechanism as reality does.

I will first present a general understanding of Grodal’s theoretical work. Then I will introduce thePECMA flow which is a chart overthe different mechanisms that are activated in the brain as wesee films. From this we move on to Grodal’s genre system that categorizes films by the levels ofidentification and activation. Finally I will introduce Grodal’s notion of emotion and simulationwhich illustrates the effects of seeing film.

34

In 1997 Grodal published his bookMoving Pictures: A theory of film Genres, Feelings andCognition

which has become a groundbreaking and recognized book. In the book Grodal explainsand analysis modern cinema, mostly Hollywood, from a biological perspective. Grodal approachconsists of highlighting genre conventions, sometimes accompanied by a specific scene, and thentying these to the biological processes that result in either thoughts or emotions, or both.I will sumup the findings and conclusions of the book in short in order to give an overview of Grodal’sapproach to film.

Grodal states that formalist, structuralist and semiotic narratological approaches explain logical(ideological) development, but not

emotional response, and that the origin of the logical form ofthese approaches is never explained within its theoretical framework. Grodal furthermore states thathis theory of cognition, emotion and genre contains the logical forms of narratology within

itsframework in a psychosomatic superschmata. Acts and feelings are mediated by image schematathat function as relays between perceptions, emotions and acts.25

Therefore films are not metaphorsor signs but ‘software’ or mental models that in essence transmit a real experience with real tangibleaffects.

Grodal concludes his 1997 book

Moving Pictures: A theory of film Genres, Feelings and Cognition

with the sentencewhat we see is what we get. I will problematize this obvious move away from thesemiotic,structuralist and formalist approaches in the end of this section

Grodal starts by showing how cognitions and emotions that come from the viewing of visual fictionare part of a holistic framework.26

The holistic framework consists of body, mind and world and theway these interact. More specifically, the holistic framework shows how visual fiction causes asimulation of both mind and body states and how if one part is effected all the parts are effected.

Ecological conventions is a term Grodal uses to finda middle way between realism and formalism.He does this by describing the aspects of the human mind that have been hardwired by evolutionand thereby providing an understanding off the effects that result from movies. Our emotionalmakeup can be triggered

in film and therefore we can be profoundly affected by film, also in a waythat challenges our control of our selves. The difference between what is ‘hardwired’ and what iscultural consist of the ‘lower’ and ‘higher’ mental abilities and the holistic connection of theinterflowing processes means that these effect each other greatly. Just as we can use our ‘higher’

25Ibid, p. 282

26Grodal 1997 p. 178

35

mental power to control our emotions, our hardwired emotional system is the foundation and majorinfluence the actions we chose. Film visualizes the innate mental models through the most advancedmedium we have to simulate the way we perceive feel, think, act, memorize, associate andsocialize.

Grodal states that the narrative and aesthetic simulations use the same cognitive and affectivemechanisms that are used in real life perception and their mental representations thus creating areality simulation. Our minds use imagination and hypothetical ‘landscapes’ to work, but since themind does not have direct contact to the world they rely on cognitive and emotional evaluations ofreality-status.27

Reality-status is determined by perceptual salience, intent and tactile qualities, thatis, sight, sound and social (inter)action that either adheres to or diverts from an established mentalframework that constitutes reality. Grodal explains that comic fictions are particularly good atobserving challenges of reality status as the narrative and aesthetic functions of comedy activate thecognitive and emotional responses by presenting at slightly different

reality and thereby ‘producing’laughter.

Grodal identifies aesthetic flow, an early version of PECMA flow, as the way in which experiencesactivate both psychosomatic dimensions and mental forms. The psychosomatic consists ofperception, cognition, memory, affect and enaction while the mental forms are either associative orsequential. The canonical narrative form of linear narrative is the flow from perception to enaction,and not a result of abstract logic. Grodal calls this ‘upstream’ flow while the mental forms are called‘downstream’ flow. The mental forms provide the emotional input, instead of the cognitive input of’downstream’ flow. In a more practical sense we can state that ‘downstream’ flow is the reasoningbetween context and for example a traditional coherent narrative and ‘upstream’ flow is theemotional effect of this narrative. An example of this might be the postmodern TV show ‘TheSimpsons’ where the traditional coherent narrative is used, thereby following the ‘upstream’ flow.But the show is infused with a very high degree of reference thereby, by the ‘downstream’ form ofassociation, creating what has been termed the joy or recognition. Of course the different variationsor combinations of ‘downstream’ and ‘upstream’ flow are many and they can create and almostendless amount of narrative and aesthetic forms and functions. The concept of flow will beexplained fully in the section on the PECMA flow model.

27Grodal

1997, p 279

36

Grodal moves on from the flow to what he callsFocus.Focus

explains how audiovisual experiencesare put in to a hierarchy because of a limited conscious capacity. The enactive elements come first,these are the elements that humans can control or interact with. Below in the hierarchy come thenon-conscious associative elements, the emotional elements that either are part of the sensoryexperience or the context.

Subjective toning concerns how subjectivity is created through a continuing flow of experiences.The experiences can be either based on the subject or the object, either experiencer or theexperienced. In order to build up the subjective toning a constraint on voluntary acts is important.Subjectivity also relies heavily on temporal cohesion, narrative connectedness, emotional strength,perceptual salience, modal form and reality-status. In the context of film it is particularly temporalcohesion that is important for subjectivity.

Visio-motor models are based on mental models and shows how image schemata functions in thestructuration of input and output. In these models the visual experience is divided into elements thatare of a typical nature, and consist within a ‘downstream’ framework. Deviations from this usuallyresults in special effects because of the possibility to show something that moves outside our knownschemata.

Continuing with the schematic approach, Grodal talks about models of humans. According toGrodal we analyze the characters in films according to our innate body-mind configurations. Thethings we focus on are the body in space, flexibility, emotion, empathy,consciousness, intentionaland goal directed behavior. By these we achieve either a feeling of familiarity or unfamiliarity.Grodal divides the actions into two categories non-conscious and conscious. The non-consciousautomatic, reactions take place in the early part of theflowand the primitive part of the brain andcontains some emotional behaviors. Grodal uses songs as an example of this automatic response asthere is no immediate telic behavior in singing and calls this paratelic. The conscious categoryconsists of telic or goal oriented behaviors that are best observed in the narrative form. Thesecategories are used in identifying human traits and the important process of identification. Mostmovies or modern cultural entertainment products apply a blend of the two categories. The telicelement is never absent which results in an increased level of activation. Grodal uses the example ofdancing, in connection with his earlier mention of song, as an art form where paratelic activation ispresent. The sensual and bodily activation under the ‘goal’ of accomplishing the correct steps of adance is of course an adequate example, but when working with films it is better, in my opinion, to37

focus on the presence of training and ‘killing’ montages in Hollywoodfilm of which the Rocky andRambo franchises provide ample examples. In these montages the overall goal oriented narrative isput on hold as the scenes provide activation in the form of emotional non-conscious audiovisualcontent.

We have now see Grodal’sgeneral understanding of films and move on to the PECMA flow.

PECMA flow

In this section I will present Torben Grodal’s PECMA flow model. The acronym stands forperception, emotion, cognition, motor action and is the unification of Grodals work on theembodied experience of film. In the model Grodal describes how the brain shapes our experience ofa film. The flow is established as the sensory information travels through our receptors and movesthrough the architecture of the brain activating the differentcenters. First the emotional primitivecenters are engaged then the cognition responds with motoric action.

The PECMA flow model looks like this:28

The first point of the flow model is the sensory receptors, in this case the eyes and ears. Presentcinema is based upon a visual and audio output, but will almost certainly move beyond these two

28

Grodal 2003, p.147

38

sensory dimensions at some point. Since the addition of sound to the film experience there has beena search for the next big technological development. There have been great advances within therealm of the two senses, but no success in implementing more senses. In fact the attempts have ingeneral been such a disturbance to the holistic film experience that the technologies have beenreduced to comical reference points in popular culture; smell-O-vision is perhaps the best known ofthese. Regardless of where film technology has been and is going the senses are the

first parts of thehuman body that are activated.

The second part activated in the flow is the visual cortex where the analysis of visual forms takesplace. The brain scans the incoming information and starts identifying and sorting it. When theidentification process is completed the information moves towards two destinations, the associationcortex and the emotion system. In the association cortex the incoming information is compared towhat is already known, this is accomplished by memory tags. The brain contains schemata of visualforms and when the incoming information ads up to, for example a tiger, the responses start to takeplace. Already before the entire range of memories about tigers is activated the emotion system hasreceived the information and starts producing an appropriate reaction, in the case of a tiger it mightbe a fight or flight response. The first two parts of the flow and the emotion system are part of theprimitive brain and therefore these processes are going on without any cognitive input. Thereception, analysis, categorization, and appropriate emotional response, are all near subconsciousprocesses. It is from this part of the flow that all of the physical and involuntary responses to filmsstem. All of the immediate emotions like exhilaration, fear and nervousness come from this part ofthe process. Although focus falls easily on the negative or powerful emotional responses the simplefeeling of liking and general positive response is also part of this section of the flow.

Thethird part of the flow is the cognition where logic and reason kick in. This part takes place inthe frontal areas of the brain which functions as the executive center of the brain. In this part westart looking for active agents and narratives as the hermeneutical dimension of cognition begins.The initial emotional impact of sensory input is put through a new filter which starts stringing theevents and actions together into coherent and understandable information. One of the main aspectsof the cognitive

cortex is to assess reality status. This is one of the main functions of the cognitivecortex. Internally it keeps track of what is a dream, what is a plan, what is an illusion and what is‘real’ input. The human brain and body have not evolved two distinct systems for real and non-realsensory information, therefore watching films functions as any other sensory input until it reaches39

the cognition cortex and is defined as non-real or abstract information. Modality and salience arethe keywords when reality status is determined. These spectrums, and other cultural markers, arelearned and will therefore differentiate from culture to culture. Thereby it is understood that theestablishing of a reality status is not a biological or evolutionary given and is arbitrary andconnected to the semantic field of both film and viewer. Grodal connects the reality status functionto the acts of playing by human children where actions are not real and objects are endowed withproperties that they do not have. In westerncultures the subject of reality status is interesting asalmost all of the population of under a certain age have grown up in an environment where visualfiction is a dominating hegemonic force. Therefore we can resonate that the alienation of mediationhas subsided and the effects of mediated narratives should be strengthened, not by implosion ofsignifier and signified, but by an adaptation of the visual media forms to an increasingly higherreality status.

One of the other important featuresof the cognition cortex is the communication with the limbicsystem, or emotion system. The rational responses that are produced in the frontal part of the braininteract and to some degree control the limbic system. The innate emotional responses arecontrolled and the right action is decided upon. This reveals a ‘top-down’ aspect to the PECMAflow that counters the ‘bottom-up’ flow we have seen until now. I will address the direction of theflow below. Apart from revealing the direction of the flow the control that comes from thecognition cortex shows that even though the emotional elements of the flow are strong they are stillsubjugated to the higher intelligence. More importantly the effects that come from the emotionsystem can be altered if it is desired to do so. This means that there is no control from the primitivebrain, only influence and therefore there is established a form of hierarchy within the brain.

The understanding that comes from the cognitive processes is used for planning an appropriateresponse. When in a film viewing situation the appropriate response is static, but the mirroringsystem of the motoric action cortex is active and this creates a certain muscular tension that can berelived through the resolving of the narrative.

The flow leads to the motor action cortex and thismeans that we engage in the film and through our emotions and cognitions to the point that we‘want’ to engage in the film physically. This reveals the enormous influence visual fictions have onthe human

body. The human ability to observe and learn from others together with the ability towork with hypothetical mental scenarios means that the embodied brain is fully prepared to engagewith the film experience on a level that is close to reality.

40

The final point that Grodal highlights in his diagram of the PECMA flow is identification. I havementioned above that there is a mirror system in the brains architecture and apart from engagingand releasing the physical tension created by the PECMA flowit functions to aid the identificationand empathic responses to the sensory information that is identified as humans. This furtherstrengthens that the response to the film experience by creating a possibility to see either oneself orothers of importance

in the presented narrative. The audio visual experience therefore can createprocesses that mimic socialization and thus personalizing the relationship to a film.

As mentioned above there is both a ‘bottom-up’ and ‘top-down’ element to the PECMA flow. The

model on page (5?) is a diagram and as such it is a simplification, but it does represent constantflow of information and response between the perception cortex, the emotion system and cognitioncortex by the arrows that point both ways. The most pedagogical way of explaining the flow is by apoint to point diagram, but with the exception of the eyes and the motor cortex, the parts of thebrain involved in the flow are in a constant flux of information. The fresh input is first processedand then reprocessed as the other parts of the flow define the information and thereby alter thereceived information. After the flow has been initiated the embodied brain becomes a part of theprocess as memory tags, emotional disposition, cognitive preference, ideological stance andpersonal preference all play a part in the reception of the film and place the film within an alreadyestablished framework. While the ‘bottom-up’ approach is god at explaining the functionalprocesses of the PECMA flow the ‘top-down’ explanation ensures that we can see the importanceof the higher intellectual influence on the brains processes. In a broader scoop this means thatGrodal’s biocultural approach to films is not some sort of biological determinism or lockedcognitivism, but ratherthat there is room for the theories of culture be they based on eitherpositivism or constructivism.

Genre System

Grodal stresses that genres and mental functions have a strong relation. In general the lyrical genrescontain the autonomic or paratelic forms while the canonical narrative genres contain the telicfunctions. Visual fiction genres are also defined by the point of view often connected to theprotagonist. The protagonist can either be the vehicle of emotion or the focus of emotional relations.The protagonist can also take a back seat to specific mechanisms such as in comedy or finally therecan be a dissociation of holistic experience in what Grodal terms schizoid fictions genre type.

41

Grodal proposes eight of these genres-types and they are: associative, lyricism, canonical narrativesof action, obsessional fiction of paratelic cognition and enaction, melodramas of the passiveposition, fictions of horror, schizoid fictions, comic fictions, and metafictions. These are based onthe identificationthe viewer has either with the actants29, cognitively or affectively, or with thenarrative, actively or passively. Grodal defines three dimensions of fiction reception in hisdefinition of the affective states of the viewer. The first dimension of fictionreception is calledthe‘real-life’ contextualization of fiction consumption30

and focuses on the context of the film viewingexperience. This is whether the film is seen in a positive or negative environment. I enjoy theexample John Cleese has told of the

experience of seeing the same film in two different moods, oneuneasy and hurried the other relaxed and pleasurable, and how this affected the experience andseeing of the film. The result being that he did not like the film in the first instance and then

foundthat he liked it as the context changed. Thus the different contexts in which films are consumed arehighly influential. Established genres carry with them different context for example the grouplaughter of watching comedy or a heightened sense ofcommunal feeling in emotionally drivennarrative. This ‘positioning of the spectator’31

is also used actively by filmmakers like for exampleHitchcock in addressing the audience. Another famous example of this is seen in the opening sceneof thePatton (1970)where George C. Scott, in his masterful portrayal of General Patton, holds athunderous and flamboyant speech to his soldiers, but in reality he is speaking to the audience.Patton stands looming large over the audience while engaging and encouraging them to follow himthrough the movie as the soldier followed General Patton in WWII.

The second dimension of fiction reception focuses on two modes, firstly the perception of inner orouter worlds and secondly on the modes cognitive and empathic identification with fictive agents.The ‘creation’ of a world through the cues in the film of either a natural world or an inner worlddictates whether the viewer experiences a purely cognitive perception or a more emotionallyenactive world. This experience is directly connected to the more important process of agentidentification. Through the functions of film language it is possible to engage the audience incertain agents of the narrative. The combination of a natural enactive outer world and an agent inactive-telic mode is the form that creates the most immediate, and often highest, level ofidentification. Inner worlds and passive agents depend on a more cognitive and personal level of

29Grodal uses this term as a modification on actor/character to represent a more abstract agent (including non-human)

30Grodal 1997 p. 157

31Ibid p. 158

42

identification. In these cases the film language exudes control through positive or negativeportrayal, most often the elements of ‘closeness’ and ‘distance’ are used. The identification rangesfrom intense cognitive and emotional resonance, perhaps best known from hero-narratives to directdissociation of which Grodal uses Carl Dryer’sVampyr

(1932)

as example. In this film themodalities and densities are moved away from a naturalistic approach and a supernatural causalityis used which creates the effects of ‘strange’ and ‘unfamiliar’.

The third dimension of fiction reception is

about the narrative structure of the world of fiction. Theprotagonist is either looked upon as a passive object or as an active subject. The distinction revolvesaround if the protagonist is the instigator of the action or the recipient/target of whatever agenciesthere are in the narrative. The active narratives are defined by the active subject pursuing a givenobject in the telic manner. As mentioned these narratives have a high activation of identification.The low level of identification in the passive narratives can then be explained by the protagonistsubject being transformed into an object by the agency of the antagonist force or influence. Theviewer is part of this identification field, as is context. The viewer comes to the film situation withaset of personal identification preferences that influence the level of identification or distance, but acertain part of the flow process is not influenced by the higher level preferences. As mentionedcontext is also an important part of film viewing and this is also relevant to the processes ofidentification as the identification relies on social context and general mood.

Grodal states that the three dimensions constitute the emotional transaction between the viewer andthe film and he then divides the transactions into two main types. The first is theenactive-projectivetype32

where the viewer can project his presence into an outer world that has a coherent logic andwhere the subjects have the possibility to act and influence the world they inhabit.The mise-en-scene does not have to use a naturalistic style or only use elements from the real world to create theenactive elements of tension, excitement and others. Instead an inherent and coherent logic arerequired and thus creating a symbolic realism

where the different elements and agents can have anunreal or fantastical appearance but the substructure of the world is based on a cause and effectparadigm. This cohesion creates a high level of reality status and this engages the viewer. Thesecond type of emotional transaction ispassive-introjective transactionsand this type is then theopposite of the first. The symbolic realism is suspended and the real word is constructed to createdistance and alienation and as a result the level of identification is low. The subject is put the

32

Ibid p. 159

43

position of object, for example in horror films, and this works against the subject basedidentification. The passive-introjective transactions result in a reality status that resembles dreamsor hallucinations, but as the

example of horror shows, the emotional resonance and effect need notbe lessened by the application of passive-introjective transactions. While there is not necessarily anexclusion of emotive force the passive subjective position and the low level reality status create thenarrative result of non-identification

Having established the three dimensions of film reception and two types of emotional transactionsGrodal moves on to identify and explain the eight genres mentioned above. The genres are sortedby

two axes, passive/active and distance/identification and the traditional narratives and films allfind their place in this system. The zero point of the axes system is what Grodal calls lyrical forms,the traits of lyrical forms will be explained below, but for now it will suffice to say that they arewhat constitutes non-traditional narrative and film.

Grodal explains his definition of genre as the categorizing of content for the purposes of theproducer, the viewer, or the researcher. The different priorities of the different agents spawndifferent main criteria for the organization of films. Grodal has emotion and emotional impact as themain criteria of his genre system. Our emotions are framed and guided by the genera conventions.The emotion-criteriaextends, in a paratextual manner, to both immediate preference, the feeling ofwanting to see something of a particular emotional genre, and familiarity, the extended positivity ofreturning to a given genre and its conventions. This emotional element is tied to the conventions ofgroups and therefore falls under one of the simplest definitions of culture, namely that it is thecollection of customs and habits of a group of people. This opens Grodal’s biocultural approach upto the ideological approach that

I also use in of the theory section, but this will be clarified in the inthe last section. Grodal ends his definition of his genre system by dissolving it slightly in statingthat the mixing and matching of genres and their defining features is a fundamental part of generadefinition. This is a general problem for genre systems but Grodal’s system seem particularly opento criticism as his definitions incorporate each other to the point where it is not a genre system but alist of different features thatare more or less dominating in films. We now move on to simulationand emotion

Simulation and Emotion

I will now introduce Grodal’s idea of simulation and emotion. Grodal’s core argument in in relationto simulation and the subsequent emotions can be summed up in the quote:

44

“We use exactly the same eyes and brain structures when we are watching films andwatching the real unmediated world”33

Grodal underlines the fact that humans do not have two distinct systems to process mediated andunmediated information. This means that the definition of simulation changes. Simulation, asGrodal describes it, is not a metaphor for imagination but a activation of the same systems, only to alesser degree. By this logic planning for the future, playing and fantasizing

are all simulations. Ofcourse there are varying degrees of simulation in the sense that not all simulations attain a highlevel of reality status. When we engage in simulation we have a particular point of view, films mostof the result in first person simulation. From this position we map all of the social and topographicallandscapes. The position also entails that there is created a high degree of identification as this is themost direct viewing position. We construct much of our identity by observing

and imitating and thismeans that character identification mirrors the process of self-construction. This coupled with thetechnical and narrative strength in film results in a high level of emotional identification. Thisidentification in not necessarily

positive as film often show antagonists. In this instance theidentification is turned into alienation, but this does not diminish the strength of the simulation. Thesimulation is facilitated by the construction of an entire diegetic world. The objects or subjects ofthe diegetic world do not activate our empirical aversion so we are free to immerse ourselves intothe world and the characters. Grodal stresses that the simulations are not abstract or limited. Theyinclude all aspects of the body and mind,also the cognition as it is an important part of controllinginput. What Grodal says is that while we are not ‘active’ when watching films our minds activate allour facilities into the process, even our motor cortex, and thereby our bodies are activated.Thiscreates a full simulation that enables sympathy for the characters of the diegetic worlds. Sympathyis a more conscious emotion and this means that we cannot sympathies with characters that we donot identify with. This process of selective identification is also influenced by salience andrelevance. Even if the simulation experience is fully immersive the spectator needs a high level ofsalience and a coherence with the films value sets to achieve a full experience. Grodal terms thisway that viewersrelate to filmsimmersed simulator. Hollywood films generally seek to establishthis stat ofimmersed simulator

in their viewers as it provides the most engaging experience. I nowmove on to a problematization of Grodal position as cognitivist in a cultural field.

33

Grodal 2003, p. 183

45

Lastly in this section I will problematize Grodal’s positioning in an academic context. Grodal’swork is based on the human body and as all sciences based on the physical; the observational andpositivistic approaches are the cornerstones. This instantly removes Grodal’s work from thesemiotic and formalistic approaches that are dominant in the culture based sciences, but this doesnot mean that Grodal’s work, such as the PECMA flow, can be placed outside the humanities. Theinclusion of a cognetivistic element in Grodal’s architecture of the brain shows that there is a strongelement of ‘the human mind’ in Grodal’s understanding of ‘the embodied mind’. In Grodal’sattempt to find a term for his specific approach he comes up with the termbioculturalism34

inwhichhe finds a middle ground between the sciences and the humanities. Grodal’s own attitude towardshis work has developed over the years as he has moved from an almost outright dismissal of andhumanities approach in his 1997 workMoving Pictures: A theory of film Genres, Feelings andCognition, to a more all-encompassing approach in the terming ofbioculturalism

in his 2003 work,Embodied Visions–

Evolution, Emotion, Culture, and Film. If one reads resent interviews withGrodal this development seemsto continue. In a 2009 interview made by Rorotoko,35

where amongother things, Grodal talks about the role of romantic and pornographic movies and, whilemaintaining that the body is the basic framework, Grodal states that the cultural development is partof an ongoing negotiation. This negotiation mirrors the discourse power struggle known from thehumanities. What Grodal basically says is that culture is part of the human mechanism, but hechooses to highlight the primitive emotional mechanisms above the cognitive ‘higher’ mechanisms.As Grodal himself, shows the cognitive parts of the brain have influence and power over both theactual primitive system and the effects it causes; therefore it is not right to say that the biologicalelement is the dominant.Furthermore, for the intents and purposes of this paper the biological andthe cultural will be weighed equally. The human embodied mind means that both biology andculture are prerequisites for the human condition and not competing academic discourses orinstitutions that either look for or construct the world. This means that the approach I have chosento film analysis does not exclude the cultural approach.

Before moving on to the analysis there is a perceived chasm between the cognitive

and semioticapproaches that I

need toaddress. If we remove the idea of a forced division between the cognitiveand the semiotic it is easy to see how the two theoretical approaches I have chosen interact. Grodalembodied mind has the entirety of culture as part of the mind in the cognitive part of the brain,

34Grodal 2003, p. 4

35http://rorotoko.com/interviewee/grodal_torben

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which is part three of the PECMA flow chart (see page ) and as we see the cognitive section, andtherefor also culture, interact freely with the other sections of the brain. Both emotion and motorcontrol can thus be

influenced by culture, even a structural semiotically based culture. If we turn toAlthusser’s work we need not look any further than the simple fact that the body constitutes anideological apparatus of its own and that the structural whole consists ofsemiotic individuals.While the structural elements can function as analytical tools or guide towards understanding theyhave no bases in the real if they do not invoke the semantic element. It the structure is not based onthe humans within it is worthless. This is underlined by the ironic fact that through the numerousassertions of materialism, both dialectical and historical, it never occurs to the Marxist structuralistthat the human body is part of the material. One cannot contain that conscious it establish by thematerial world without also stating that the brain, and its workings, is the bases of consciousness.This lays Althusser’s work wide open to the cognitive approach that I have used. Thus it is myargument, that not only are the cognitive and

structural semiotic approaches compatible, but theycomplement each other, as the cognitive provides the actual bases for the process that create theideological structures of our society.

I now move on to the analysis of the Die Hard films.

Analysis–

Die Hard

In this analysis chapter I will look the four films of the Die Hard franchise in order to illustrate thepossible ideological effects of Hollywood films. The Die Hard films in many ways epitomizetheHollywood that I have described in the previous chapters and therefore are an obvious choice. Thefirst film was a tentpole film for Twentieth Century Fox and the following films have all been animportant part of Twentieth Century Fox’ earnings, there

is even a fifth film in the makingscheduled for premier in 2013. The Hollywood franchise is based on repeating a production that hasresulted in high earnings. The repetition takes place in the area of main characters, theme, storystructure, and a number of other parameters. Most often the franchise film is a traditional actionnarrative; the James Bond, Rocky, and Batman are all perfect examples of high earning franchisesthat reproduce the premise of the films and base the narratives around a white male hero.

In this chapter I will analyses the Die Hard franchise and the two main approaches will be based onthe theory chapters I have presented. Thus, I will look at the movies as a direct function of anideological apparatus. I will try to show the different levels of ideology that are present in the47

Hollywood products. In order to open the films up I will use a formalist approach and analyze thestructure of the film. This approach will allow me to isolate the single elements and extract all ofthe ideological information that otherwise goes past the conscious level. After this phase I will beable to show the films as a singular ideological product. The reason that it is possible to speak of asingular product is that the formulaic nature of franchise films. The basically reproduce the samenarratives and plot lines. The changes are locked to setting, antagonist, and minor character. Afterplacing the product ideologically I will use the theories of Torben Grodal to establish the impact theproduct has.Grodal’s genre system and PECMA flow will show the influence that the films have onthe individual audience member, as we move from the most abstract structuralism to a concretephysical experience that interacts directly with the embodied mind. A small part of the analysis willbe directed at showing the development towards Global Hollywood. The fourth film,Live Free orDie Hard,differs from the rest of the films on a few pivotal points that illustrate how marketinginfluences content of the Hollywood products. The results of the analysis will lead us towards aconclusion on the effects of Global Hollywood film products on the present world.

Plotstructure

I will begin by identifying two kind of plots that the Die Hard franchise utilizes. Inside of all of themovies there is an action plot where John McClane goes up against, and defeats, the enemy. Thisplot structure incorporates some variations, but is basically the same throughout the four movies.Through all the movies there is a plot line that can best be identified as the life story of JohnMcClane. While action, gunfights, violence, explosions, and killings fill up the majority of the filmsthe emotional and personal development of John McClane and the development of his relationshipsare a major part of the Die Hard franchise. This is part of why the Die Hard films did not becomejust another row of action blockbusters. There is an element of emotional engagement that drivesthe identification processes forward and locks the viewer in the flow of the movie, but I will expandon this below. The structure of the films can be understood in the light of the three act structure.The three act structure is a simple structure that is used by most of Hollywood’s action movies. Theacts consist of setup (first act), confrontation (second act), and resolution (third act). In the first actwe are introduced to the different agencies and their disposition. Then we see the inciting indecentthat constitutes the problem or challenges that are to be overcome and then the first plot pointmoves us into the second act as the hero confronts the problem. The confrontation takes up the48

majority of the film and contains the action of the movie. During the confrontation the outlook forthe hero worsen and in the second actthere is a midpoint, usually at the middle of the film, wherethe chances of the hero are at their lowest. From this point the hero fights his way to the pivotalsecond plot point from where we move into the resolution. The main point in the resolution istheclimax where the action reaches the tensest point where the protagonist defeats the antagonist, andthen a short dénouement. This form is also known as the ‘Hollywood model’ and finds its origins inin the Aristotelian narrative tradition. The simplistic nature of these forms and approaches is thereason why Hollywood films are criticized for aiming for the lowest common denominator.

In the action plotlines McClane is unintentionally placed in the action. The hero then has to takeaction in order to fulfill his duty as a police officer, but more importantly as a hero. McClane thenbattles the enemy on the grounds that what they do wrong instead as an exponent of an explicitideology. The enemies are generally on the same level as McClane so he does notfight from aposition of superiority and therefor the plight of the hero is underlined as McClane suffers greatly ashe fights his way towards the goal. In all of the action plot lines there is a shift in the objective ofthe antagonists so that what is initially seen as the objective is changed to a previously hiddenobjective. This serves to lengthen the plot and introduces a whole new set of objectives andmotivations as the films induce their own pace and engage the audience in a second time. AsMcClane

get closer to defeating the enemies the worse his condition and outlook is. This breaksfrom the standardized three act formula where there the lowest point is circa midway through thenarrative. Instead of having an upward trajectory towards the climax,the Die Hard films maintainthe suffering and hardship of the hero right until the climax. Since an abrupt change from losing towinning would disrupt the plot and the audience the upward trajectory is contained in McLane’spersonality. His vise cracking and never say die persona underline the fact that the hero will prevailat last, even against the ever increasing odds. In the climax McClane kills the main protagonistpersonally and the dénouement is used to return to the emotional plotline where McClanemakessome development in his personal life, for example reunite with his wife or daughter. The personallife plotline let us see the development of John McClane’s life. Much of the development is shownthrough exposition as the personal life plotline continues outside of the movies. In this plotline wesee McClane as a looser instead of the winner of the action plot. In short, his marriage is troubledand ends in divorce and he becomes estranged from his children. The heroics of the action plotmomentarily

solve the personal problems, but the worsening condition of McClane, from movie tomovie suggest a flawed character that cannot defeat relationship problems the same way he defeats49

enemies. The two first films focus greatly the personal circumstances andthe intros to both filmsare based on the relationship between McClane and his wife. This creates a possibility for theaudience to engage emotionally in the human side of the action hero. By the third film the familyside of the personal plot is put in the back ground as McClane is divorced and on the verge ofbecoming alcoholic. The focus is on McClane and his fight to restore his life, and only after he hassucceeded in defeating the enemies can call his wife and try to reestablish their relationship. By

thefourth movie McClane’s marriage is finally over and the focus shifts towards McClane’srelationship with his, now teenage, daughter. The fifth film is, supposedly, going to focus onMcClane’s son and this might be a way of continuing the franchise. Iwill expand further on theshift towards young people in the section on marketing, but we can see that the emotional personalplotline continues to be an important part of the Die Hard franchise.

Taking my offset in this brief outline of the plot structure of the Die Hard films I will look at theindividual element of the films from an ideological viewpoint. First I will show the direct to semi-direct ideological dispositions of the text. Then I will look at the deep ideology that takes place at alevel that is not immediately accessible to the audience. The first place we will look for the ideologyof the Die Hard franchise is the main character, and cultural icon, John McClane.

John McClane–

The Icon

John McClane is the quintessential action hero. The character is a white alpha male of averageintelligence and above average physic. This character, as the name implies, takes action and seeksto solve problems and remove obstacles. McClane lives up to all of these parameters, but also hasand emotional

side where we see the human side of the hero. This creates a more multifacetedcharacter that has a more well-developed set of motivations and therefor McClane is betterconstructed than an average action hero, without a well-developed emotional side, Steven Segal’scharacter work springs to mind. One more aspect of the McClane character that is pivotal to theunderstanding of him is the flawed nature of the hero. The action hero can become distant andinaccessible for an audience, but if emotion and flawed character is induced the identificationbecomes much easier. Nationality is also an aspect in Die Hard as McClane fights foreign enemiesthe majority of the films. In the first film the German terrorist even engage in anti-Americanrhetoric. At one point

the antagonist calls the McClane character “cowboy” in a derogatory mannerto which McClane answers “Yippee-ki-yay motherfucker”. This is the catch phrase of the entirefranchise and the context that it arises in is the American cowboy is ready and able to fight against50

anybody. The line invokes much of the ideological core of Die Hard. In a simple line the oldwestern hero is combined with a street smart New Yorker. The all American action hero is a genrestable and has the main function of defending an ‘all American’ value set by killing anybody whogoes up against the value set. So we can conclude that the icon of the Die Hard franchise is a hypermasculine white male that defends his wife/family from evil and foreign forces by using force andviolence.

The role of the righteous defender is placed with the white male and as I will show below some ofthe American minorities are place further down in the hierarchy. This then shows us another piecein the ideological patchwork of the Die Hard films. The main minority group of the Die Hard isblack men. Black males monopolize the role of important secondary characters. The fourth filmbreaks with this structure as there is an omission of minorities in secondary roles. In the first filmthere are two black characters that register in the action. The first is the minor role of Argyle, thelimo driver, this young black man functions a comic foil and also is the tool of exposition as he asksMcClane about his personal life in the beginning of the film. The young black man is working a lowpriority job, doing drugs, and in general displaying an unserious disposition. The other blackcharacter is that of the heroic black man and this character is repeated throughout the first threefilms. In the first film it is Al Powel a police sergeant, in the second it is Lesley Barnes, chiefengineer at the airport, and in the third it the heroic black man is upgraded to McClane’s right handman as Samuel L. Jackson portraits Zeus a Harlem resident that in many ways becomes a minorversion of the McClane icon. These characters might reflect the development of higher racialequality in the cultural order of America, but if we believe this premise then the fourth movie mightbe troubling. In the fourth movie all racial and ethnicalminorities are put in minor roles and allmajor characters are white Americans. The characters of the McClane family also need someattention. These establish a certain set of family values that fall under the all American heading. Asalready mentioned the

family life and marriage of McClane is troubled and he largely fails as afamily man. McClane’s wife and daughter are the characters that establish the family values thatMcClane breaches repeatedly. The love between the family members is clear to see inthe films, butMcClane’s egotistic, controlling, and insensitive manner result in him putting his own needs and hisown opinions ahead of his family members. This causes the conflict with his daughter and wife andportraits him as an emotionally underdeveloped man. This portrait nears an ironic comment on therole of masculinity in present society, but the total absence of any other reflection or socialcomment leads me to conclude the McClane’s inability to lead a family life is a characters feature51

designed to make him emotionally accessible to audience members. The image of flawed actionhero icon has a problematic side as the man of action is clearly the main identification marker andthe inherent emotional dysfunctionality may become naturalized and universalized. The staticnature of genre staples masks the necessity for development away from flaws, or as in this casedysfunctionality and might elevated the flaws to a given value set. In an ideological sense we movefurther down the super structural topography of Althusser. I should explain, as it is not clearly statedin Althusser’s theory, that it is only the top levels of the super structural allegory which areimmediately accessible. If we imagine a series of levels where human communal conscience is

atthe top level, then at the bottom is the natural and universal foundation that consists of the physicalworld, including the human body. Only the foundation is locked in definition, but as the lowerlevels of the superstructure lie so close to the naturalized and universal level they adopt the solidityof the foundation and do not register in a conscious and interactive manner. Although the lowerlevels are accessible through analysis and close readings achieving conscious change in these levelsis noteasy as the have a high degree of solidity. Therefore it is problematic if the icon ofemotionally dysfunctional masculinity becomes an ideological stable at a deep ideological level. Aswe have seen the process of reproduction will take place as soon as an element has become part ofideology. Thus, an ideological dissemination of an emotionally dysfunctional hero icon takes placeas a result of a cultural product from Hollywood. This blatantly underlines that Global Hollywoodchooses function and income over social and cultural responsibility.

Enemies

We now move on to the image of the enemy. The antagonists in the Die Hard franchise represent awide array of national and political identities, but all fall under the heading of terrorists. Asmentioned above in the section about plotstructure there is a change in motivation of theantagonists. This consists of changing the initial ideological or political goals for financial gain. Thesecond movie breaks with this structure slightly as both the political and

financial goals arecombined in the freeing of a South American dictator. In the first three movies the top figure of thecombined enemy force is foreign and, in all but the second film, the mercenaries are foreign. As inmost Hollywood productions the showing of other nationalities is stereotypical and is used only in adistancing effect. The only villain that is provided with a motivation outside of stealing money isthe, American, villain in the final movie. He has been treated unjustly by the Americanmilitary andtherefore has an emotional reason for his terrorism. The Die Hard franchise uses an enemy imagethat is easy to identify. The lower level villains are defined by nationality, uniform, weaponry, or52

fighting style, and in the last film where parkour is introduced, physicality. This is easy for theaudience to categorize and has a high expendability in the narrative as no specific personal qualitiesare lost. In all the films there is a high level antagonist that matches the hero on most levels andeven exceeds the McClane character in intelligence. This antagonist provides the major obstacle forthe hero and the high level of competence means that the suspense of the film is held very well aslogic dictates that the superior character wins. All of

the antagonists are have a defined set ofmotivations so that they are seen as believable characters. While the antagonists have an importantrole as obstacle they also have another important function. In the ‘yippee-ki-yay’ examplementioned above that framed the hero icon of the franchise, we also find a different function. Inorder to illustrate I will present the dialog:

Hans Gruber and John McClane are talking to each other on walkie-talkies:

Gruber: Mr. Mystery Guest? Are you still there?

McClane: Yeah, I’m still her. Unless you wanna open the front door for me

Gruber: Uh, no, I’m afraid not. But, you have me at a loss. You know my name butwho are you? Just another American who saw too many movies as a child? Anotherorphan of a bankrupt culture who thinks he’s John Wayne? Rambo? Marshal Dillon?

In Gruber’s second line we see a positioning of the audience as well as McClane. A movie audiencewill of course be ableto link the words ‘saw too many movies as a child’ to themselves and theirpresent position as movie viewers. The reference to a ‘bankrupt culture’ functions in the same wayonly in a broader sense. After highlighting John Wayne, Rambo, and Marshall Dillon, all actionhero icons, Gruber challenges both McClane and the audience by asking if they think they have achance againstus. Thisusconstitutes an ‘other’ for the audience to mirror themselves of and this

36

Die Hard, 1988, 57.30-58.15

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‘other’ then is Gruber who is a criminal, intelligent, German. McClane’s immediate response of‘yippee-ki-yay motherfucker’ motivates the audience towards a response of antipathy towards theenemy and identification with McClane. The quoted section is, as mentioned, the ideological coreof the franchise and this mechanism of antipathy and identification is utilized throughout all of themovies. Therefore it is important what identification markers are used in constructing the enemygroup that the audience is supposed to feel antipathy for. I have mentioned several of theidentification markers, but it is important to underline that the film sidesteps any seriousengagement in racism or international politics. There is only presented a superficial andstereotypical image of the enemy as this is first andforemost entertainment. The problem of‘stereotyping’ comes from the fact that films transport mental modes. If the mental mode of, forexample, ‘German’ stands unchallenged in the audience and is invoked in situations outside the filmexperience we have an ideological transferal and actual real world impact of the ideologicalapparatus. If the stereotypical then becomes commonplace as can easily happen in a standardizingindustry then we have a full effect of ideological construction of the ‘real’. This example also showsthat there is not necessarily direct agency behind the processes of ideological construction as theconstruction of the enemy is based on narrative considerations rather than ideological ones.

When Gruber refers to the process of seeing film he invokes the process of self-reference which iscontinued throughout the four films. In the first film the self-reference is directed at the process ofseeing film, but in the other three films what is referenced is the improbability of McClane endingup in these situations several times. While self-reference in films of the late twentieth century mightwell indicate a postmodern artistic approach, this is not the case. The self-reference is part of thehumoristic side of the Die Hard franchise. Bruce Willis’s repertoire includes comedic acting andthis is put to good use as he portrays the fast talking McClane. The humor is limited to the dialog asit is only a single element in the action film. Now we move to an attempt to define the films as acombined ideological product.

Justice

The individual components that we have looked at constitute the entire ideological product. It mightbe difficult to extract a singular message from four individual films and in essence that is not what Iam going to

do. I will not be looking for the secret message of the Die Hard franchise as it is not ofinterest in a structural sense. Besides, the commercial origins of the films and their actual contentindicate no overall message. The absence of a narratological agency or an auteur’s message does54

not mean that a film cannot engage the viewers with a particular ‘worldview’. The ideologicalstructures that constitute and reproduce our world are particularly evident in narratives as these are,or give the impression of, distilled reality. All of the chaotic influential elements are removed fromnarratives as these seek to tell only one story, and do so in a coherent manner. Therefor we can findsome of the lower ideological superstructure. In the action and hero narratives we are dealing withwe can look at ‘response’ and from the responses that are deemed acceptable we can establish anideological justice. I will also discuss what can be the possible influences and consequences of thisjustice. In all the Die Hard films McClane is drawn into the action and does not seek the conflicthimself. This means that he never loses the moral high ground no matter how violent he becomes inhis conflict resolution, as he did not draw first blood. To further this line of reasoning in all of thefilms McClane fights to save hostage. In three of the films the hostages are members of his ownfamily and in the other it is a school full of children. This supports his poetically justifiable right touse whatever means he can and the element of threatened family is used to invoke the element ofrevenge. We can relate to McClane’s emotional need for revenge and thus we are more likely toaccept the response of violent revenge as a both plausible and acceptable.

In this respect McClane becomes a vehicle of violent revenge and his actions are understood in thiscontext. This means that McClane become more than just a character and a person on the screen. Hebecomes a force and has only one direction towards the inevitable goal. To use psychologicalterminology he becomes a pure id, that is unchecked by any higher instance. This creates a logicalcohesion in the extremely violent and unrelenting progression to the goal of revenge throughkilling. McClane’s actions and also his dialog are all

pointed towards bringing about the particularjustice. The dialog compliments the action fully and never introduces reflection or doubt. Thismeans that the justice of violent revenge is presented as naturalized or universal, within the universeof the films. This unquestioned justice is brought about by McClane who is an untamed, forceful,emotionally engaging, logically coherent, and competent action hero.

Having established that the Die Hard franchise is an ideological apparatus instigates and reproducesa revenge driven justice let us look at the consequences of this. I will start by looking at McClane’stitle. McClane is a police officer and as member of the police force he stands under the obligation toprotect and serve; an ideological declaration of

intent that the American police forces share withmost police forces of the western world. Furthermore the ideal approach of policing in the westernworld seeks to be preemptive and stop crime before it happens rather than solve it after the fact. The55

circumstances of the real world do not adhere to this policing ideal, but it is none the less the idealthat is aimed for. In extension of the policing ideal the present justice system is based upon a fairtrial and humane punishment. In most justice systemsthere is also an idea of rehabilitation to helpcriminals to become non-criminals. The differences’ of Die Hard justice and western establishedjustice are glaring and there is no possible connection between them.

The Die Hard franchise is partof a larger

section of Hollywood and the particular form of justice is a much used approach inaction movies. Thus we can conclude that there is a global industry structure that produces anddistributes cultural products that adhere to an ‘eye for an eye’ style of justice, or to put in into thetheoretical framework I have presented. The Die Hard franchise is part of an ideological apparatusthat reproduces an ideology of revenge based justice. From this conclusion the speculation arises asto what impact this influence has and will have on western societies.

One of the major concerns is the high number of cultural products that present their mental modelsof conflict solution that are revenge and violence based and the level of influence these productshave. The high amount and constant supply of examples of the ideological discourse create a stateof immersion in the content. As postmodern theory lets us know we live in a time where value andideology have very few power centers to function from, which put the

Hollywood ideology in aposition of ever increasing strength. This suggests that ideology on a global scale might be movingin this direction, but empirical proof is hard to come by. One other concern is the naturalization ofviolence. There is very little evidence to suggest that violence is part of the natural humancondition. In hunter/gatherer terms the violence of the hunt has most likely had a function of socialbonding as the humans worked together to ensure life and prosperity. Violence is then rather a partof the civilized condition. With the exception of highly emotional violence, all forms of violenceare related to the abstract and constructed goals of a societal order and therefore violence can besubdued or controlled by societal means. If one of the strongest ideological and emotionalinfluences in society promotes that violence is a natural response to conflict, or other obstacles, thenthe human and individual rights that have their origin in the enlightenment and fortification in theperiod after the Second World War, will face a challenge in staying the ideological bases of thewestern world. But, like with the first speculation, empirical proof is difficult to extract from theprocesses of media dissemination and audience reception, and therefore the speculations willremain speculations. We will now move on to look at some of the marketing aspects of thefranchise.

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Marketing influence.

In this short section I will highlight some of the differences that the fourth movie has from theotherfilms. This is in order to show the developments of Global Hollywood and its influence on content.The first film was released in 1988 and the explicit foreignness of the antagonists suggests that thefilm was not intended for major exportation, butas the franchise grew the marketing considerationsalso grew and by the fourth film that came in 2007, the content was streamlined in accordance withmarketing strategies. The easiest way to show the workings of the fourth film is to compare it to thefirst film as they serve as opposites, within the context. There are two main areas that I will focuson and they are: the construction of the enemy and the presence of youth. In the first film theportraying of the foreignness is so stereotypical that when the film was released in Germany thenames of the enemies where Anglicized and the accents where left out of the dubbing. In the fourthfilm the main antagonist is American while his army of mercenaries consists of a plethora ofnationalities. All are endowed with a certain ‘special’ abilities that define them as henchmen. Theabilities range from sniping, to parkour and martial arts. This is done in order to spread thevilification across as many segments a possible without locking it to one in particular. Similarly theidentification through competence rather than traits sidesteps any stereotyping. The presence ofyouth in the films also shows the marketing streamlining. In the first film there is a total absence ofyouth. The youngest character, Argyle, isin his twenties and in no way represents a teenagersegment. In the fourth film we see five teenagers in the first few minutes and only two adults. Theterrorists perform a cyber-attack so the secondary character that helps McClane is a young computergeek, and McClane’s personal life plot is intertwined into the action plot as his daughter iskidnapped by the terrorists. This provides identification markers for both young boys and girls and asparking love interest between the two characters only adds to the, perceived, appeal. The fourthfilm has less graphic violence than the prior films. This is done in order to not receive a too highrating in the American ratings system, which would translate into a loss in revenue as a too highrating excludes the strong segment of American

teenagers. This race to ensure a low placing in therating system eve affected the very core of the franchise. McClane is about to kill the mainantagonist, and use the catchphrase of the franchise. He is supposed to say ‘yippee-ki-yaymotherfucker’ but the ‘fucker’ is blocked by the sound of a gunshot. In many ways this illustratesthat there is nothing that is not subjugated to the marketing and segmenting exercises. The inclusionof youths has had a big effect on the content of the last film, as it seeks to not get a too high rating itsacrifices a lot of the original content. It could well be argued that the absence of violence is a good57

thing for the viewers, but in reality the producers only mask and camouflage the violence in order toensure revenue. So instead of an total absence of violent content, the film is edited in order toaccommodate the needs of the marketing department so that the film does not get a too high rating.In the marketing terminology this is known as the ‘peter pan’ syndrome where the target audience isa young male. The idea is connected to the explosion of young consumers that the last few decadeshave seen.

This condition clearly shows the streamlining of content in the name of profit. Furthermore it showsthat there is a will alter content and this means that whatever content is the most profitable will bethe chosen content. This lead to the speculation that even if the content would be judged as bad byother standards such as ethical, social, or moral it would still be chosen as it ensures profit. Now wemove on to the way the cultural products are experienced on the personal level.

Emotional impact

After having identified the ideological and structural nature of the films I will now move on to thereception of the film and how the films impact the individual viewer in an attempt to connect theabstract structuralism with the real cognition of the film. This section will be based on the theoriesof Torben Grodal. First I will look at the action genre as it is defined by Grodal and what that meansfor the Die Hard franchise. Then I will look at the viewing position and identification on anemotional level. Finally I will develop a joint understanding of the Die Hard franchise where bothideology and emotional impact are part of the concluding understanding.

In Grodal’s genre system he identifiesthe canonical narratives of action

as a genre category. Thisis the genre category that the Die Hard films belong to. It is defined as the most used narrative formof present day movies. The two main staples of this genre are an enactive cognition and empathicidentification. These two elements are invoked by the Die Hard films. As I have already discussedabove the Die Hard formula uses both goal oriented action and emotional identification to engagethe viewer. Grodal states that if these narratives are successful they draw the viewer in and he isfully absorbed to the point where he loses self-awareness. While this process has to be evaluatedindividually the Die Hard films live up to all the parameters of drawing the viewer into the narrativeworld and engaging them fully with the desires and aversion that the main character feels. Thecognitive and emotional involvement is tied to the McClane character, and the viewer follows hisjourney in the fictional world and shares his desire to destroy the enemies of the different films.Grodal states that this category utilizes a closed structure and as we have seen above the Die Hard58

franchise uses the closed three act structure. The important part her is of course that the viewer getstotally submersed in the action and, under ideal conditions, loses self-awareness. Grodal terms thisviewer positionImmersed Simulator37

This extremely high level of identification means that the possibility of a deep influence is verylikely. When audiences loose self-awareness the cognition is nearly turned off and is only activatedto ac conscious level if there is an interruption. This interruption might come from a situationoutside the movie seeing situation or it might come from a ‘flaw’ in the narrative. Narrative flawsare mistakes that arise as the genre conventions are broken. If the traditional action narrative whereto invoke for example associative lyricism, the

least narrative form of Grodal’s genre system, itwould disrupt the film and break the flow and the audience would regain awareness as they wouldbe forced to think about the motive for breaking the genre conventions as well as applyinghermeneutical analysis to the lyrical forms. The impossibility if a solid answer would mean that theloss of self-awareness would be hard to regain. But as we saw in the chapter about Hollywood’shistorical development Hollywood movies are produced with the expressed intention to maintainthe internal logic and preserving the naturalization of the movie experience. In the waste majority offilms, the loss of self-awareness in never an option. In fact, as it is an industry standard ofHollywood we can safely assume that the cases where a Hollywood film disrupts its own narrativeworld are almost none. While cognition is not particularly active duringtraditional actionnarratives

it is not completely turned off. It still accesses the logic of the input, but since criticalthinking and evaluation are part or the higher cognitions, on can speculate that the mental modelsthat the Die Hard films use become part of the mental makeup of the recipient. I am not suggestingthat films can brainwash you, which is the pedestrian argument

often heard, but that the uncriticalimplementation of mental modes might very well mean that when a similar situation arises there area set of mental models available to deal with conflict. To deal with a conflict, which is a highlyemotional state, the

cognition has to deliver models that control both the strong emotions and themotoric actions. This is why persons that deal with conflict on a regular basis such as police andmilitary train in the scenarios that might arise so that there are mental models ready to activate as inthe situation. If a narrative or mental model has be implemented in the viewers cognition thatestablishes violence and confrontation as a solution to conflict, then this might be activate in a reallife situation. This activation might then lead to an actual real life violent confrontation. Of course,this does not mean that all individuals that watch the Die Hard films, or other action films, will react

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with violence if confronted. Fortunately there are other apparatuses that reproduce other ideologiesin form of mental models and these then counter the violent models as the cognition deems theseresponses as the appropriate ones. But in a structural sense, the ever growing strength of theparticular Hollywood ideology, with theaccompanying mental models, in a world where otherideologies are deprived of apparatuses of similar strength is worrying. This problem is not isolatedto violent and confrontational mental modes as the traditional action narrative is invoked to tell avied array of different stories that all present a particular ideology. Romantic comedies also fallunder Grodal’s genre heading of traditional action narratives and the ramifications of this might beeven more disturbing than the export of a violent ideology.

Grodal speaks about this character simulation and emotion and the possible positions of ‘seeing’.These range from direct emotional simulation to distant observer. In the Die Hard film we find thedirect emotional simulation. Grodal uses the word simulation slightly differently than other theoristsdo. In Grodal’s terminology simulation does not mean the imaginary projection of a scenario. Itmeans a direct simulation where the first part of the reaction takes place inside the brain and wethen as we are able to grasp the situation do not act on the initial impulse. This is because thecognitive cortex makes sure that the motoric center is not activated even though simulation isactivated inside the brain. This functions by the fact that a simulation

is not a mental image but anactivation of the relevant centers. The best example of this is how we can become frightened orstartled during a film, but this does not make us resonate that we should flee.

Similarly all of the actions of the point of identification, McClane, are mimicked in this simulation.The reason for this, says Grodal, is that our brains have not developed to distingue between fictiveor narrative information. Grodal’s assertion has some very interesting ramifications of the viewingof the Die Hard films. The films are extremely violent, but the violence is not directed at theenemies. In fact there are not any prolonged deaths of the antagonists; all of the enemy deaths arequick. Some of the deaths are very brutal, but they functionas flashes not prolonged portraits. Thepain and suffering we see is McClane’s and he is also the center of identification for the audience.So what are the ramifications of the extreme suffering that McClane’s goes through? The sufferingof McClane is one

of the defining features of both McClane and the franchise, and furthermore it isan action hero genre stable. One interpretation could be the that the suffering causes masochisticemotions in the audience, but this psychological interpretation does not o